Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-04-07
DOWN In THE DEPTHS.
A Wrecked Scaling Steamer Goes
Down With Two Hundred and
Sixty Souls.
The Blane of the APPALLING Calamity
Due to q Rotten Boiler.

dispatch from st. Johns, n. F., of
April 1ss says:
The report of the loss of the sealing
steamer Eagle with all on board is con
frmed. The calamity is the most apall-
ing that ever befel the province of New
foundland.
Of $50 men on board not one survives
to tell the story of the disaster.
More than one thousand widows and
children IN this city and vicinity, most eff
them in poverty, are mourning the loss
of husband or father.
The lost vessel was last seen by the
steamer Aurora on the night of the 18th
inst, near Funk's island in Buena Vista
bay, which is about one hundred miles
northwest of this city. frightful sea
was running at the time. The next
morning the Aurora could find no trace
of the Eagle.
A message arrived to-day from Grecu-
pond on the bay, say ing that Light
House Keeper Cabot boarded the sealing
steamers Vanguard and Hector off that
place few days later. Both these vessels
reported passing spars, floating forecastle
and other wreckage, including the name
board of the Eagle, near the spot where
she was last seen. Lighthouse Keeper
Cabot is thoroughly reliable man, and
his opinion that the Eagle has gone
down
WITH ALL ON BOARD
is seemingly conclusive, aside from the
evidence from other sources. The other
steamers of the fleet are spoken and re-
ported every few days, and all have been
heard from since the 18th except the
Eagle. No one here any longer doubts
that all on board have persisted.
Regarding the circumstances of the dis
aster, there are two theories, about equal
ly terrible. One is that the boilers ex-
plodsd, in which event all on board would
have persisted at once in the awful sea.
The other is that the vessel in some way
got into the breakers, which would have
made death no less certain than by the
first mishap. The sea that night is de-
scribed by the men on the other vessels
of that fleet as the most terrible that ever
ragged even on this savage coast. No
ship once caught in the awful breakers
could possibly escape, and no small boat
could land man alive on the rocky, pre-
cipitous coast. Anything that could float
large or small, would have been ground
to pieces on tie Wild rocks.
The Eagle carried crew of so men,
and about 30 sealers. Their
EXACT NUMBER Is NOT KNOWN.
All the sealing steamers carry large
forces of men. The nature of the work
makes it necessary. The seals are gen
orally found upon the ice in large schools
or colonies. The men get as close as
possible to them, and then, armed with
clubs, rush in among them and knock
over many possible before they
have time to escape to the water. The
more men there are, tho more seal are
captured.
Capt Jackman, commander of the
Eagle, was recognized as the bravest
skipper of the colony. Until 1885 he
was king of the sealing fleet. In that
season fer the first time il. his exper-
fence, he failed to secure any seals. Last
year i'll luck again attended him, ard he
lost the steamer ResOluts near the same
fatal Funk's island, but his crew escaped
Later the same season he took command
of the Eagle, and within a few weeks
SHE BROKE HER SHAFT.
She was reftted and month ago she
started On her last voyage.
Nearly all the men on board were mar.
ried and were in the prime OF life.
By reason of the Impoverished condi
ton of the colony, nearly all the newly
made widows and orphans are withoui
means of support, and distress -mong
them will be great.